Wednesday AM October 15th, 2008

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A variety of commercial space companies have emerged, ranging from firms that launch satellites to Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic to firms like Houston-based Space Services, which launches cremated remains.Î¾ The company's Charles Chafer and other space venture businessmen are meeting with investors in Los Angeles this week.

"The Space Investment Seminar brings together entrepreneurs, major aerospace companies like Boeing — which is a co-sponsor — and potential investors to focus on this emerging new space economy and the opportunities associated with companies and business ventures that are looking to the space field for rapid growth and new product development."

Chafer says space commerce could help the country see a job boom.

"It's an inevitable outcome of what NASA has done.Î¾ NASA's been so successful that they've created the opportunity to move the space economy into something more like the aviation economy is now, and it's just been recently that we've started to see the global spending on commercial space activities actually exceed global spending on government space activities."

Boeing is working with investors and entrepreneurs to discuss strategies for moving the space commerce industry forward.Î¾